Who else could it be, on this night of miracles?
The bell pealed again, the sound of it as impatient as the race of her pulse.
“I’m coming,” Eve called, as she flew down the hall. Laughing, she slipped the bolt, undid the chain and threw the door open. “You came back,” she said, “oh, my love…”
But it wasn’t Zach at all. It was Dex.
“What a charming greeting, darling. It’s always nice to find a warm welcome.”
Eve’s heart hammered in her throat. “Get out of here!”
“Weren’t you waiting for me, darling?” He laughed, low in his throat, and fumes of whiskey inundated her as he whipped a bouquet of blood-red roses from behind his back and presented them with a flourish. “I’m the kind of man you need, Evie. I’ll make you forget your Mr. Landon before the night’s over.”
Eve moved swiftly, throwing her shoulder against the door at the same time she tried to force it shut. Dex, half a foot taller and many pounds heavier, simply laughed, pushed past her and strolled into the living room.
Be calm, Eve told herself. Don’t let him see how frightened you are.
“Dex,” she said. “Dex, listen to me. Leave now, and I’ll forget this happened.”
“Evie, darling.” She flinched as he reached past her and shut the door. “How can you say that after all the promises you’ve made?”
“You have a career to protect. A reputation——”
“Don’t be a child, Evie. Nobody’s ever going to know about this but you and me.”
“I’ll file charges. I’ll ruin you!”
“You’ll ruin yourself, you mean. Think about it, Eve. Who’s more important in this town, you or me? Who’s going to believe that Dex Burton would use force to get a woman?”
“Why are you doing this?” Eve whispered.
Dex’s eyes turned cold with rage. “Do you have any idea how many people saw you walk out on me tonight?”
“I didn’t walk out. We talked business, we finished and
“You got up, you and your precious Mr. Landon, and you left me standing there like a fool. Everybody who’s anybody in this town saw what happened.” Dex pulled off his jacket and tie and dropped them to the floor. “Your choice, Eve. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
A sob broke from Eve’s throat. She made her move, bolting past him in a desperate break for freedom, but Dex was too fast. He caught her, ripped the towel away and swung her into his arms.
“That’s all right,” he said. “I like it when my ladies give me a little rough and tumble.”
He bent his head and kissed her. Eve slammed her fists against his shoulders but he laughed, caught her wrists in one hand and kissed her again as he carried her toward the bedroom.
She tore her hands free and hit him again, her fingers catching in his shirt and ripping it open. Dex dropped her on the bed, held her down with one hand as he shrugged off the torn shirt and undid his trousers. He fell on top of her, caught her head in his hands and held her prisoner as he kissed her.
“You son of a bitch!”
The roar of Zach’s voice filled the room. Dex cried out as he was lifted bodily into the air and flung like a rag doll into the corner.
Eve scrambled to her knees. “Zach. Oh, Zach, thank God you came back. He was——”
“Give it up, Evie. Your boyfriend knows what’s happening here.”
Zach swung around. His adrenaline level was so high that he could barely see through the red cloud in front of his eyes. It was only seconds since he’d found Eve’s door ajar. Fear had sent him racing into the apartment, but that fear had turned to blind, senseless fury when he saw the reason the door hadn’t been fully closed.
Roses were scattered on a floor littered with a woman’s dress and high-heeled sandals. A man’s jacket and tie had been kicked into a corner. Her bra and panties, his torn shirt, made a clear trail of passion straight to this bed. To Eve, naked and flushed. To Dex Burton, on top of her…
“Zach.”
He turned and looked at Eve. She had pulled the blanket around herself. Now she stood beside the bed, her eyes on his.
“He’s lying,” she whispered. “Zach, he was trying to-to…”
“Come on, man,” Dex said. “Do I look like I need to break down doors to get what I want?” He bent down and retrieved his shirt from the floor. “The babe’s been after this movie deal for weeks. Tonight, I could see she was really upset with my screwing around. So after you left, I thought, well, it’s time to fish or cut bait, you know?” Dex smiled his million-dollar smile. “So I phoned the lady, said I’d made up my mind the part wasn’t for me——”
“Damn you, Dex!” Eve’s voice trembled as she swung toward Zach. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Why wasn’t he comforting her? “Zach, don’t listen to him. None of that happened. He—he forced his way in here.”
“And she says, ’Don’t tell me that, Dex. Come on over and we’ll talk about it.’ She’s been at me for weeks, holding out a contract I don’t want with one hand and a bunch of promises with the other, if you know what I mean. So I came over, and she opened the door…” Dex flashed Zach a man-to-man smile. “Hey, man, I’m only human.”
Zach’s chest was constricted and his breathing was shallow. He’d been in fights before—hell, he’d fought his way through his teens and his first year in the Corps. He knew what it was like to feel adrenaline racing through his body.
But this was different. His muscles felt wound tight, like old-fashioned clock springs. He could hear the racing beat of his heart, feel the thud of his blood as it pounded through the veins in his temples. He needed to think, to sort out the facts from the fiction, but just now he was incapable of that and he knew it.
He was a man on the verge of explosion, and he relished it because that was all that might save his sanity.
He stepped toward Dex, a little smile angling across his mouth.
“You’re wrong,” he said, almost pleasantly. “You’re not human. You’re an insect.” His arm shot back, flew forward, and his fist slammed into Dex’s handsome, smiling face. “And I’m going to beat the crap out of you.”
“Zach, no!” Sobbing, Eve threw herself at the two men. She pounded on Zach’s shoulders, on his back, panting for him to stop.
Finally, when he knew the pain inside him would not go away, even if he mashed Dex to a pulp, Zach’s hands fell to his sides.
Dex staggered back. There was blood on his face, on his shirt; he cringed as Zach stood over him, his hands on his hips, a look on his face that only a fool would have thought to defy.
Zach jerked his head toward the door.
“Get out,” he said. “Get out of here, you scabby piece of maggot meat, and don’t let me see your face ever again!”
Dex scrambled for the hall. Zach waited until he heard the front door slam shut, and then he turned to Eve.
His heart turned over. Lord, but she was beautiful. More beautiful than ever before, with her tearstained eyes and trembling lips.
More beautiful—and, perhaps, more treacherous.
“Zach,” she whispered. Tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Oh, Zach, it was so awful.”
He could feel his muscles tense. He wanted to go to her, take her in his arms…
But he didn’t move. “Tell me what happened here, Eve.”
“I told you. Dex tried to—he tried to rape me.”
“How did he get into the apartment?”
“He rang the bell. I thought it was you and——”
“How could you think it was me? I’d left. There was no reason to think I was coming back.”
“Yes, but I thought—I thought…” Eve licked her lips. “I hoped you’d changed your mind,” she whispered. “I was thinking how much I wanted you, how I wished I’d asked you to stay, and just at that moment, the bell rang.”
“And you opened the door.”
“Yes.”
“Without looking? Without as
king who it was?”
“Zach.” She shook her head, trying to smile through her tears. “I know it was stupid. But I wanted it to be you so badly. I—I wanted—I wanted to tell you that I’m in love with you.”
Her whispered words echoed in his head. She loved him. She loved him.
“Zach.” Eve came toward him, still clutching the blanket to her Her beautiful face was lifted, almost in supplication “I know you have questions, but right now—right now, what I need is to have you take me in your arms and hold me. Just hold me, Zach, and tell me——”
“Tell me something first.” Zach’s voice was cold, almost without inflection. Stop it, an inner voice was saying, stop it before it’s too late…
“Tell me he was lying. That you didn’t invite him here.”
He saw Eve’s eyes widen. “But—but I have told you. I just described——”
“You told me what you want me to believe. What I want is the truth. Look me in the eye and say, ‘Dex lied.’”
A cold hand seemed to wrap itself around Eve’s heart.
“You don’t believe me,” she said softly.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes.” Her breath caught. “Yes, you did. You want me to convince you that I’m innocent.”
Zach’s jaw tensed. “You have to admit, it doesn’t look good. You, Dex, the clothing and the roses…”